Press release

Russia, Argentina, USA and Serbia in Final-Four Round

Russia is unbeaten in six outings losing only one set in the process

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, August 8, 2011 – Seven-time champions Russia and top world-ranked Argentina advanced on Sunday to the semifinal phase of the 2011 FIVB Men’s Junior World Championship as winners of Pools E and F respectively.The other two sides that completed the round of the four finalists, and the battle for the medals, are United States and Serbia, the second place finishers in the second round.Russia, the only unbeaten team after six outings, edged United States with a coming from behind victory 3-2 (19-25, 27-29, 25-21, 25-17, 15-13) in the contest for the first place of Pool E. Argentina earned its seventh point of the second round via a 3-2 (24-26, 25-18, 20-25, 25-10, 15-9) loss to Serbia.Serbia then qualified courtesy of a 3-2 (36-34, 22-25, 21-25, 25-17, 16-14) victory of India over hosts Brazil in the last match of Sunday.

In Tuesday’s semifinals, Russia will be pitted with Serbia while Argentina will face United States. In the round for the 5-8 positions, Brazil will be paired with Spain and India will challenge Iran. In the semifinal matches for 9-12 positions, Canada meets Germany while Japan goes against Belgium.In the semifinal matches for 13-16 positions, Tunisia faces Puerto Rico and Egypt entertains Bulgaria

Pool E –Second Round- 1-8 Places

Iran 3, Spain 0

Iran achieved its first win in the second round to finish third placed in the Pool E of the tournament as the Asian squad overcame Spain in straight sets (26-24, 25-20, 25-23). In the next phase they will meet the fourth positioned team in Pool F.Iranian opposite Amir Ghafour scored 18 points, teammate Pourya Fayazi contributed 14 points while Dehnavi Sajad chipped in with 10. Spanish opposite Andres Villena led all scorers with 21 points while Francisco Ruiz added 12.

Russia 3, United States 2

Russia came from behind to remain as the only unbeaten team so far by outdueling the United States 3-2 (19-25, 27-29, 25-21, 25-17, 15-13) in the last match of Pool E of the second round. The win enabled Russia to finish atop of the Pool. Second placed United States will face Argentina, which won Pool F. Russian outside hitter Leonid Sshchadilov scored impressive 24 points to be the top scorer of the match. He was helped by Bogdan Glivenko, who scored 14, and Igor Filippov who contributed 12. Most of American points were split between Taylor Sander (20), Taylor Crabb (19), Maurice Torres (17) and Dylan Davis (11).

Pool F –Second Round- 1-8 Places

Serbia 3, Argentina 2

Argentina qualified as the first placed team of Pool F as the team got the extra point needed in the loss to Serbia 3-2 win (24-26, 25-18, 20-25, 25-10, 15-9). The South American side accounted for 7 unreachable points.Aleksandar Atanasijevic and Vuk Milutinovic were essential in Serbian win scoring 25 and 19 points respectively. Three other Serbians scored in double figures with Uros Kovacevic registering 17 points and Srecko Lisinac and Lazar Koprivica chipping in 13 and 10. Argentinean Ivan Castellani charted 18 in the losing cause.

India 3, Brazil 2

India played the role of spoiler by upsetting two-defending champions Brazil in a nail-biting five-set thriller that left the home team out of the contention for the medals. The Asian team prevailed in the marathon match by score of 36-34, 22-25, 21-25, 25-17, 16-14. The outcome earned Serbia the second place in Pool F and a spot in the semifinals.Indian outside hitter Christopher John topped the scorers with 23 points, with Katariya Lavmeet and Dhanabalan Selvaprabhu scoring 13 and 11. In the Brazilian side, Lucas Loh (20), Rafael Martins (18) and Ricardo Lucarelli (16) were the most effective players.

Pool G –Second Round- 9-16 Places

Canada 3, Tunisia 1

Canada secured their place in the semifinals after defeating Tunisia with a 3–1 (25-20, 25-21, 21-25, 25-23). The North Americans have a 3-0 record in Pool G and will play in the ninth-place semifinals on August 9. Tunisia (1-2) will play in the quarterfinals on August 8.Looking recovered from the injury he suffered Saturday, Canada's Tommy Belisle led all scorers with 26 points. Bradley Kufske added 14 points and Braden Mclean had a match-high six blocks for Canada. Amin Ben Bey was the best player for Tunisia, scoring 15 points.

Japan 3, Egypt 2

Japan defeated Egypt, 3-2 (25-18, 15-25, 20-25, 25-21, 16-14) in the final match of round two of the competition for 9-16 positions. With its victory, Japan (2-1) finishes second in Pool G and advances to play Pool H winner Belgium.Japan's Takashi Dekita led all scorers with 23 points. Egypt's captain Moustafa Idris led his team with 19 points. The tie-breaking fifth set came down to the final points. Tied at 14-14, Japan reached match point thanks to a block, then won the match when Egypt hit the ball out of bounds.

Pool H -Second Round- 9-16 Places

Belgium 3, Puerto Rico 0

Belgium defeated Puerto Rico, 3-0 (25-22, 25-19, 25-21) in a very balanced match where both sides showed their best skills. Belgium (3-0) was already qualified for the August 9 semifinals.Belgium captain Sam Deroo led his team with 16 points on 13 spikes and three blocks. Puerto Rico's Ricardo Archilla led all scorers with 17 points on 14 attacks, two blocks and one service ace. Belgium scored 30 points on Puerto Rico errors while only giving up 20.

Germany 3, Bulgaria 0

Germany advanced to the semifinals for ninth place after defeating Bulgaria, 3-0 (25-23, 29-27, 26-24) in the last Pool H match and will play Canada, the winner of Pool G. Germany finished second in Pool H with a 2-1 record. Bjoern Hohne and Tom Strohbach each finished with 15 points for Germany. Ventsislav Trifonov led Bulgaria with 11 points on seven spikes and fou blocks. Ilyan Bozhkov added 10 points on nine attacks and one block. Germany led Bulgaria in attacks (14-9), blocks (15-0) and service aces (2-1).

Top Scoring Performances47 – Takashi Dekita (Japan) in the 3-2 victory over Bulgaria on August 238 – Aleksandar Atanasijevic (Serbia) in the 3-2 victory over Iran on August 2 31 – Simon Hirsch (Germany) in the 3-1 loss to India on August 130 – Selvaprabhu Dhanabaln (India) in the 3-1 loss to Serbia on August 629 – Aleksandar Atanasijevic (Serbia) in the 3-1 victory over India on August 6

Top Blocking Performances11- Mohamed El Askolany (Egypt) in the 3-1 victory over Germany on August 29 – G.R. Vaishnav (India) in the 3-1 loss to Serbia on August 68 – Lucas Van Berkel (Canada) in the 3-2 loss to Serbia on August 37 – Ventsislav Ragin (Bulgaria) in the 3-2 loss to Japan on August 27 – Igor Filippov (Russia) in the 3-0 victory over Spain on August 57 – Igor Filippov (Russia) in the 3-0 victory over Iran on August 67 – Ivan Castellani (Argentina) in the 3-2 loss to Serbia on August 7

Top Service Ace Performances

4 – Andrey Kolesnik (Russia) in the 3-0 victory over India on August 24 – Uros Kovacevic (Serbia) in the 3-2 victory over Iran on August 24 – Paul Sprung (Germany) in the 3-1 victory over Puerto Rico on August 53 – Andrey Kolesnik (Russia) in the 3-0 victory over Egypt on August 13 – Jorge Lopez (Puerto Rico) in the 3-1 loss to Argentina on August 13 – Hatem Obba (Tunisia) in the 3-1 loss to Spain on August 13 – Yamato Fushimi (Japan) in the 3-2 victory over Brazil on August 13 – Steve Morales (Puerto Rico) in the 3-2 victory over Tunisia on August 33 – Hatem Obba (Tunisia) in the 3-2 loss to Puerto Rico on August 33 – Dmitry Kovalev (Russia) in the 3-0 victory over Iran on August 63 - Aleksandar Atanasijevic (Serbia) in the victory over India on August 63– Nicholas Hoag (Canada) in the victory over Egypt on August 63 –Ivan Castellani (Argentina) in the victory over Brazil on August 7

Highest Set Score36-34 (India versus Brazil) in second round on August 7 in Rio de Janeiro34-32 (Puerto Rico versus Germany) in second round on August 5 in Niteroi33-31 (Japan versus Bulgaria) in first round on August 2 in Rio de Janeiro30-28 (Serbia versus Iran) in first round on August 2 in Niteroi 30-28 (Spain versus United States) in second round August 6 in Rio de Janeiro29-27 (United States versus Russia) in second round August 7 in Rio de Janeiro29-27 (Germany versus Bulgaria) in second round August 7 in Niteroi

Highest Scoring Matches235 – India def. Brazil 36-34, 22-25, 21-25, 25-17, 16-14 in second round on August 7 in Rio de Janeiro 225 - United States def. Spain 25-21, 20-25, 26-24, 28-30, 15-11 in second round on August 6 in Rio de Janeiro224 –Serbia def. Iran 23-25, 22-25, 30-28, 25-18, 15-13 in first round on August 2 in Niteroi 223 – Japan def. Bulgaria 20-25, 20-25, 33-31, 25-18, 15-11 in first round on August 2 in Rio de Janeiro218 – Belgium def. Germany 23-25, 25-20, 28-26, 21-25, 15-10 in second round on August 6 in Niteroi 216 - Japan def. Brazil 21-25, 25-19, 25-20, 22-25, 18-16 in first round on August 1 in Rio de Janeiro216 –Russia def. United States 19-25, 27-29, 25-21, 25-17, 15-13 in second round on August 7 in Rio de Janeiro